This America’s Got Talent Winner Makes Magic Happen

Humble, dedicated to his craft and one of the most amazing magicians I have been privileged to interview, Mat Franco’s journey has been nothing short of enchanting. A natural-born showman, he fuses humor, heart, and jaw-dropping illusions with a sincerity that has endeared him to millions. His performances aren’t just about tricks—they’re about joy, connection, and the shared experience of wonder.

Now celebrating an extraordinary 10-year run at The LINQ, Franco continues to make history as the first and only magician ever to win America’s Got Talent. His acclaimed production, Mat Franco: Magic Reinvented Nightly, has evolved into a Las Vegas phenomenon, captivating audiences and earning rave reviews from critics and locals alike. Night after night, audiences fill the theater not only for his impossible feats, but for the warmth and authenticity that radiate from the stage.

Franco’s list of honors is as dazzling as his performances. He has been named “Best Magic Show in Las Vegas” multiple times by Las Vegas Weekly and USA Today. Franco received the coveted “Casino Entertainment Award” for Best Show, and most recently earned one of magic’s highest distinctions—“Magician of the Year” from the Academy of Magical Arts at the worldfamous Hollywood Magic Castle. Long regarded as the spiritual home of magic and a temple to its greatest legends, the Magic Castle’s recognition places Mat among the true masters of the craft.

Yet even with such prestigious accolades, it’s his humility that continues to define him. Mat remains the same grounded, gracious performer who never takes a single audience or standing ovation for granted. Whether unveiling a breathtaking new illusion or ending a show with a heartfelt thank-you, Mat Franco reminds the world that the greatest magic of all lies in authenticity, gratitude, and the joy of connecting with others.

Travelgirl: What drew you to magic? What did your parents think when their very young son displayed an interest in magic?

Mat Franco: I was really young when I saw magic on TV. My interest in it may have had less to do with magic, and more to do with the overall entertainment impact. The magic was cool, of course. But I loved that most of the performances were set to music, and it all took place on a big stage, with amazing set designs and lighting… all shot in front of a live audience. The idea of being involved in something like that made me feel alive! My parents were supportive from day one, and I’m forever grateful for that.

TG: You’ve said your grandmother used to read magic instructions to you when you were too young to read them yourself — that’s such a wonderful image. Were there any other people who guided or inspired your journey early on?

MF: Too many to count. Teachers, kids at school, family, neighbors… in retrospect, everyone around seemed to be pretty shocked and taken aback by this kid who was laser focused on doing what he loved to do. Growing up in Rhode Island, I didn’t know other magicians, or anyone in show business, so the support from my community was really instrumental in booking lots of local shows throughout my youth.

TG: You grew up in Rhode Island, a state that isn’t exactly known as a hub for magicians. What was it like growing up there with this unusual dream, and how did your family or community respond?

MF: I grew up in Johnston, Rhode Island. All my friends were into playing “spawts” — that’s sports with a Rhode Island accent! So, the being into the arts, let alone magic, definitely made me stand out. I took pride in being the “magic kid” at school and everyone seemed to dig that I was into something different. Surely there were those that thought it was weird, but I don’t really recall much of that, as I’m a glass-half-full kinda guy.

TG: Many artists can point to a person who believed in them before anyone else did. Was there someone like that for you — a teacher, a magician, or even a friend — who gave you that push?

MF: Absolutely. When I was finishing school and trying to decide whether to take the leap and pursue magic full-time, my biggest inspiration, Jeff McBride, happened to be touring on the East Coast. I saw his show and attended his private seminar for magicians. I’ll never forget his words: “You can absolutely do this.” When someone you grew up watching on TV tells you that, it’s hard not to listen. That moment gave me the confidence to take the plunge.

TG: You’ve said your magic is about connection, not deception. How do you design an illusion to make the audience feel involved rather than just amazed?

MF: I think people connect with authenticity. When I share my story, audiences often see a piece of themselves in it. The illusions are just one element — I use magic as a vehicle for storytelling. The show blends music, comedy, crowd interaction, and audience participation, all coming together to create an immersive experience. My goal is always to make the audience part of the story, not just spectators.

TG: What first drew you to sleight of hand and close-up magic, and how has your approach evolved since you first began performing?

MF: I’ve always loved a good challenge. Sleight of hand is often considered the most difficult branch of magic because it demands precision, dexterity, and discipline. That level of practice is meditative for me — almost addictive. Over time, my approach has evolved. These days, I’m more drawn to the psychological side of magic — understanding how our brains take shortcuts and make assumptions. Once you understand that, you can create the illusion of miracles without even relying on sleight of hand. It’s endlessly fascinating.

TG: Many magicians guard their methods closely. You often emphasize creativity and curiosity — how do you keep your material fresh while protecting the mystery?

MF: That’s actually one of the biggest misconceptions about magic. I don’t think mystery needs to be “protected” — it’s more like a movie. You don’t want to spoil it for someone who hasn’t seen it yet, but once they’ve experienced it, it’s okay to talk about it. That said, it’s not right to reveal methods that aren’t yours to share. Magic is a nuanced art, and even magicians debate where those lines are. At its core, though, magic isn’t about tricks — it’s about self-expression. So, I don’t protect mysteries; I just tell stories. I keep things fresh by constantly allowing my show to evolve, and by writing new material.

TG: Winning America’s Got Talent made you a household name. Looking back, what was the most valuable lesson you learned from that experience — personally or professionally?

MF: Performing live and performing for TV are two completely different worlds, and America’s Got Talent is a crash course in doing both at once. You’re performing for a theater full of people, but also for millions watching at home, all while celebrity judges watch your every move. That’s about as intense as it can get! After that experience, every gig feels a little easier.

TG: Since AGT, you’ve maintained one of Las Vegas’s most successful residencies. What’s the secret to keeping Magic Reinvented Nightly exciting for both new and returning audiences?

MF: The show is always evolving. That keeps it exciting not just for the audience, but for me and my crew too. I got into this business because I love it, and I want that joy to come through on stage. If we’re having fun, the audience feels it.

TG: Every night your audience is different. How much of your show is scripted versus spontaneous interaction?

MF: I always have a clear roadmap. We start at point A and somehow end up at point Z, but how we get there depends on the audience. They shape the show every night. No two performances are the same, and the grand finale changes too. It definitely keeps me on my toes!

TG: You often perform for all ages. How do you balance sophisticated sleight of hand with humor and storytelling that resonates with everyone?

MF: I never made a conscious effort to have broad appeal in that way. Magic inherently appeals to a wide demographic of people, and when you combine that with the fact that I work “clean,” it makes for a fun experience that happens to be wellsuited for the whole family.

TG: You’re known for supporting The Animal Foundation and the NSPCA. What inspires your commitment to animal welfare, and what message do you hope fans take from that work?

MF: I grew up with pets. My wife is the biggest animal lover I know. So many lost or abandoned pets are in need. So, my message is: whenever possible, adopt, don’t shop.

TG: With your busy Las Vegas schedule, how do you stay grounded — what keeps you creatively and personally centered?

MF: Life can feel like a plate-spinning act sometimes. I actually enjoy working under pressure, as that’s when I feel most creative. But personally, I need quiet moments to recharge. Sometimes that means going for a run, taking a walk, shuffling cards, drumming, or playing guitar. Those little outlets keep me centered.

TG: Do you have a favorite travel destination? What’s on Mat Franco’s travel bucket list?

MF: Hawaii’s tough to beat. When life gets busy, I don’t mind sitting on an island for a few days to reset and recharge. Next on the bucket list is Spain (for the amazing magicians they have there!), and Italy, because of my family’s heritage.

TG: What does one of the world’s most famous magicians never leave home without when he’s packing for a trip?

MF: My retainer. I’m a teeth grinder (so says my dentist), so I always pack a retainer to sleep in.

TG: Can you offer some sage advice for those young hopefuls who hope to one day walk in your famous footsteps?

MF: Practice. Never stop learning. Enjoy the journey. Don’t be afraid to approach new challenges from a beginner’s mindset. Above all, be you!

The post TG Coverguy: Mat Franco appeared first on Travelgirl.

From Georgia fraternities to Country Music stardom, Cole Swindell’s songwriting touches everyone.

Cole Swindell, born and raised in Georgia, grew up surrounded by the sights and sounds of Southern life, where music, family, and community formed the backbone of his upbringing. From an early age, Swindell was drawn to storytelling through song, often scribbling lyrics and melodies in notebooks long before he imagined a career in country music. He attended Georgia Southern University, where he became a member of the Sigma Chi Fraternity. It was through this fraternity that he first met fellow “brother”—and future country superstar—Luke Bryan, a connection that would leave a lasting mark on Swindell’s path in music.

After graduating in 2007, Swindell made the decision to move to Nashville, the heart of country music, with aspirations of building a career from the ground up. Initially, he worked on the road selling merchandise for Luke Bryan, a role that provided him with an insider’s view of life on tour, fan interactions, and the complexities of the music industry. Even while traveling, Swindell remained committed to his true passion: songwriting. He dedicated countless hours to crafting songs, experimenting with melodies, and refining lyrics that would lay the foundation for the hits that would later define his career.

In 2010, Swindell’s persistence and talent earned him a publishing deal with Sony/ATV Music Publishing, a significant milestone that allowed him to write songs for established artists such as Craig Campbell and Thomas Rhett. Through this period, Luke Bryan continued to serve as both mentor and inspiration, offering guidance on navigating the music business and life on the road, and encouraging Swindell to pursue his own recording career.

Swindell’s personal breakthrough arrived in 2013 with the release of “Chillin’ It,” a catchy, upbeat track that quickly climbed the charts and introduced him to a nationwide audience. By this time, the doors Bryan had helped open, combined with Swindell’s growing songwriting credibility, positioned him perfectly for the next phase of his career. Swindell has often credited Bryan with showing him the ropes, providing not just opportunities but also lessons in professionalism, perseverance, and connecting authentically with fans.

Over the years, Swindell has released five studio albums, each contributing to his reputation as one of country music’s most consistent and relatable voices. His 2014 self-titled debut album featured “Chillin’ It” and established him as an artist to watch. “You Should Be Here” (2016) included the heartfelt title track and the high-energy collaboration “Flatliner” with Dierks Bentley. In 2018, “All of It” delivered memorable singles such as “Break Up in the End” and “Love You Too Late”. His fourth album, “Stereotype” (2022), featured hits like “Single Saturday Night” and “Never Say Never.”

In 2025, Swindell released his fifth studio album, “Spanish Moss,” a 21-track collection that showcases his evolution as an artist while staying true to the storytelling roots that define country music. The album includes the debut No. 1 single “Forever To Me,” co-written with Greylan James and Rocky Block, which Swindell dedicated to his engagement and wedding to his bride, Courtney. The song also holds personal significance as it marks and honors the upcoming birth of their first child, a daughter, in the fall of 2025. Other standout tracks from the album include “We Can Always Move On,” “Spanish Moss,” “Kill A Prayer,” “One Day,” and “3 Feet Tall,” the latter of which was hailed by Country Now as a “Song of the Year” contender and “one of Cole Swindell’s most meaningful songs”.

To support the release of “Spanish Moss,” Swindell embarked on the Happy Hour Sad Tour, which kicked off on September 4, 2025, in Toledo, Ohio. The tour features special guests Priscilla Block, Logan Crosby, and Greylan James, and is produced by Pepper Entertainment. Swindell expressed his excitement for the tour, stating, “I cannot wait to get out on the road this year for the Happy Hour Sad Tour. Getting to write songs and make music for a living is a dream come true, and there are so many folks that make that happen! I hope the fans that spend their hard-earned money to come out and support us know how much we appreciate it and how much we love seeing them out there having fun.”

The Happy Hour Sad Tour is not just a promotional tour; it’s a celebration of Swindell’s journey as an artist and a father-to-be, (his daughter was born in August, 2025). The tour’s name, inspired by the title track from “Spanish Moss”, reflects the emotional depth and authenticity that Swindell brings to his music. Fans can expect a mix of new hits and classic favorites, all delivered with the passion and energy that have become synonymous with Swindell’s live performances.

As Swindell continues to balance his career with his personal life, he remains committed to his craft and his fans. His journey from fraternity halls in Georgia to sold-out arenas and national tours is a testament to determination, talent, and the power of mentorship. Through songwriting, touring, and chart-topping hits, Cole Swindell has solidified his place in country music as a compelling voice whose journey continues to inspire.

The post TG Coverguy: Cole Swindell appeared first on Travelgirl.

He’s a pianist and composer whose jammed with jazz greats while creating his own sound.

Travelgirl: It’s an honor to welcome you aboard Travelgirl Magazine. You grew up in Atlanta and there are quite a few musical giants who have honed their skills in Atlanta and other cities in Georgia. The legendary Ray Charles was born in Albany; Otis Redding was born in Dawson; Gladys Knight hails
from Atlanta; and the incredibly talented songwriter Johnny Mercer was born in Savannah. Luke Bryan and Tricia Yearwood, both of whom graced Travelgirl’s covers, are also from the Peach State. Who influenced you when you were young and paved the way for your passion for music?

Joe Alterman: My dad influenced me. I asked for piano lessons when I was about three or four. I took a few, did not like it, and wanted to quit but my parents wouldn’t let me. When I was born, the first thing my dad noticed were my long fingers and he said that I would probably play the piano. I don’t think my parents saw much talent then; it was more about finishing something I’d started. But they wouldn’t let me quit, so, from three or four years old until I was 11 or 12, I took classical piano lessons, and I was always getting in trouble for changing notes.

As I was taking these lessons, which were basically a chore back then, I fell in love with other types of music, including bluegrass. My dad and I traveled to various bluegrass festivals where I first encountered traditional American music — much of which I later heard performed by jazz pianists through my dad’s recordings. And, that was what turned me on to jazz. Jazz musicians like Oscar Peterson and Ramsey Lewis played familiar bluegrass melodies in their own style. It was just so tasty, so creative, and so interesting to see what these guys would do with a melody. They did things that I never thought possible and that brought about my love of the piano.

TG: Did you study music in high school? Talk about the influence boogie-woogie music has had on you.

JA: When I started hearing jazz musicians interpreting songs at bluegrass festivals, I fell in love with boogie-woogie music, which is blues music that’s written for the piano. I remember I was about 13, maybe a little younger, and I went to my classical recital and instead of playing the piece that I was supposed to play, I played a boogie-woogie song. While the audience gave me a standing ovation, the school threw me out.

TG: Did you have a mentor in your formative years?

JA: In high school, after the classical school debacle, I found a teacher who was a better fit. His name was Gary Motley and he’s now the director of jazz studies at Emory University. Gary was a great teacher, perfect for that period in my life because he had an unbiased view of jazz piano history, so he taught everything. He was unlike some of the people I later encountered in New York who looked down on certain styles, techniques or eras.

Once I got to New York, I gained many mentors, some of whom were huge heroes of mine. People like Houston Person, who was an incredible saxophone player. I grew up playing along with his recordings and I never imagined then that we would get to play together. I also studied with the great pianist Don Friedman. I became incredibly close friends with the legendary Ramsey Lewis, whose piano I actually recently inherited — and I was friendly with the fabulous Les McCann, who called us Big Mo and Little Joe. I was also very lucky to have gotten to know Ahmad Jamal, the pianist whose music really changed my life. They were all mentors to me in different ways and I’m forever grateful.

TG: I’ve read you were a history buff and that studying history provided insight into different types of music. What led to your love of jazz?

JA: I feel like the more you know about the context of something, the more you can appreciate that thing no matter what that thing is. For me, that thing is music. I mentioned that my love of jazz really began with the interesting ways in which jazz musicians were interpreting well-known melodies that I already knew. So, it was really the interpretation of melody that brought me to jazz.

Studying history just adds a deeper appreciation. If you can know what a song is about or what it was meant to be about, it makes you appreciate it more. For example, “Our love is here to stay” is a very famous George and Ira Gershwin song. But the truth is that that song was the last melody George Gershwin ever wrote. He wrote it with no title in mind. It was just a melody. Then he died, and Ira Gershwin, his brother, decided to put lyrics to it, and he called it “Our Love is Here to Stay” as a nod to his brother George. Hearing something like that will give anyone who hears this story a greater appreciation for that song. So that’s why, and I try to do that with everything I play.

TG: You earned both a BA and a Master’s in Jazz Piano from New York University. Attending university at NYU must have been an enlightening and spiritual time for a college kid.

JA: Definitely. It was an incredible time because NYU was in Greenwich Village, which is where a lot of the jazz clubs are. I was there when many jazz masters we studied in class were still alive. Often, we’d learn about this musician in class, and later in the evening I’d go and see this person at night. I would share what I had learned earlier in the day, and the musician would affirm or correct the information. It was an incredible time for me!

TG: You are an accomplished and talented pianist; you compose music and thus far have eight critically acclaimed albums. That’s quite a feat for someone in their 30’s. What inspires you when you sit down to write music?

JA: Anything and everything. Life is inspiring. Music is inspiring. Nature is inspiring. Cities are inspiring. Everything that makes up my life inspires me when I sit down at the piano. I might just be playing around with one song and get stuck on one idea as I improvise, which will lead me to get stuck on another idea, which will lead to an entirely new song. It is literally anything and everything.

I feel very lucky that there’s a lot of music inside of me, and all I really need to do is turn on the faucet and let it gush. It won’t stop until I turn the faucet off. That said, the most important thing for any musician or artist who recognizes that they have been given a gift is to recognize that it’s not about them. The gift is to become a vessel for that gift. I’m a vessel for the music to come out. That’s all, and that’s humbling.

TG: Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Count Basie, Oscar Peterson and Duke Ellington are just a few of the celebrated jazz legends. Now you, Joe Alterman, can count yourself among them. If you could choose one jazz legend to jam with today, who would it be?

JA: If I could choose one jazz legend to jam with today, it would be the late, great bassist Ray Brown. I love his sound so much and just wish we could have played a little blues together. That would’ve been a treat.

TG: I love the “Remembering” passages on your website under the heading “Writing”. They are quite memorable. Each person you write about must have been an inspiration to you.

JA: I love writing and it’s a special way for me to not only write all these incredible memories down, but also to work through some sad feelings when one of these heroes or mentors passes away. Someone like Les McCann, we talked on the phone every day for years. It was a really hard thing to lose him, but writing about him is not only a way to document special stories and memories, but it’s therapeutic, too. It brings back so many memories that make me laugh out loud and smile.

TG: Please tell us about your involvement with Neranenah, an Atlanta-based Concert & Culture series, which celebrates Jewish contributions to music and the arts.

JA: Neranenah means “let’s come together and sing” in Hebrew. We are a concert and culture series that celebrates Jewish contributions to and interactions with the arts, often alongside other communities, most notably the African American community. Neranenah used to be called the Atlanta Jewish Music Festival, but the question to me has always been “What is Jewish music?” The Atlanta Jewish Music Festival defined it as “a Jew playing music,” which I don’t necessarily agree with.

For me, the question is “beyond this person happening to have been born Jewish, what, if anything is Jewish about their music?”. To me, Jewish music is not a genre of music. It’s much more than that. Consider Jewish people like Alan Lomax, who traveled the country and the world documenting rural musicians, seeking along the way to convince them of their worth by playing their music back for them. Remember the great Milt Gabler, who was the only one willing to record Billie Holiday’s “Strange Fruit” after Columbia Records and John Hammond turned it down. Also, Alfred Lion, Frances Wolfe, and Norman Granz, people who are responsible for the documentation of so much incredible American music. They entered the music business out of their passion for music and their opposition to the prejudice faced by the musicians they admired.

These are people who preserved and championed the roots of Black American culture, helping elevate street life to the realm of high art. What’s interesting about the above is that none involves Jewish performers or composers, but all are deeply important to the music that’s shaped American culture. The stories are powerful, inspirational and Jewish. I’m convinced it’s the story that makes the music Jewish. Jewish music is not only music composed by Jews and performed by Jews, but also music that has been influenced and expanded, in part, by Jews to make it uniquely American. These are stories that we can all identify with and celebrate together. After all, while this is a Jewish organization, music is for everyone and Neranenah embraces and reflects that.

TG: You’ve performed at legendary venues including the Kennedy Center, Lincoln Center, Birdland Jazz Club, and Blue Note, performing alongside jazz greats Houston Person, Les McCann, and Ramsey Lewis. You’ve opened for Dick Gregory at the Kennedy Center and performed internationally at the Blue Note Jazz Club in MIlan. You’ve also performed at the Blues in Washington, DC, and the iconic Preservation Hall in New Orleans. Do you have a favorite venue, one that everyone should put on their musical bucket list?

JA: I truly love most of the venues I’ve played at. They all have something different to offer. My dream venue to play is the Village Vanguard in New York, but there’s nothing more exciting than playing somewhere like Birdland in New York or even Eddie’s Attic here in Atlanta. I love an intimate vibe. This music is meant to be felt close up, and I love the opportunity to do that.

TG: You’ve traveled to perform concerts all over the world. Do you have a favorite travel destination?

JA: Truthfully, I think my favorite country is Greece. I loved going to the islands. I’ve never played in Greece, but I loved visiting there and hope to be back to perform some time in the future.

TG: You are a renowned pianist; is there one item you never leave home without?

JA: My wallet! Although sometimes I forget it!

TG: What’s next for the incredible Joe Alterman and can you please tell us where we can see you perform throughout the remainder of the year?

JA: I just began hosting a weekly radio show on WABE in Atlanta, which is an Atlanta NPR affiliate. The show is called “The Upside of Jazz,” and it’s on every Saturday at 7:00 p.m. I hope Travelgirl readers will give it a look or a listen. In terms of performances, I have a European tour in mid-September and a tour in Germany in November. Over the next few months, I’ll be in Chicago, New York, Houston, and more. Next up in Atlanta is October 9th at Eddie’s Attic and November 21st at the High Museum.

TG: You are a positive and engaging force in music. Your talent, energy, and enthusiasm inspire and uplift every audience. Travelgirl applauds your dedication, talent, and commitment to advancing positive change through music. Your continued efforts contribute significantly to ensuring jazz remains valued and appreciated by future generations.

JA: Thank you so much!

The post TG Coverguy: Joe Alterman appeared first on Travelgirl.

He’s a songwriter, humanitarian, legendary musician and recently scored a big Broadway hit.

Travelgirl: I’m so happy to be with you and to get to know you. Everyone knows Huey Lewis the musician. You are also a humanitarian and very philanthropic. You have been quite involved with San Rafael’s Lifehouse, whose mission is to improve the lives of those living with disabilities and help them live independent lives. You’ve been an honorary chair and emcee for their fundraisers. Please let us know how you became involved in this most worthwhile endeavor.

Huey Lewis: I sang an anthem for a Special Olympics about 45 years ago and I was so touched by the group. It was such a nice thing, and my neighbor was also involved. The association was formerly called the Marin Association of Retarded Citizens. It is now called Lifehouse and its purpose is to help disabled folks live independent lives.

I’ve been chairman of the association’s big fundraiser for 35 years now and it really is a wonderfully gratifying thing. If you are a developmentally disabled person in Marin or Sonoma counties in California, you are a lot better off than almost any other place in the world. We have independent living situations. I’ve gotten to know some of the clients well over the years and it’s just a fun thing. It’s not a lot of heavy lifting.

We have a wonderful chef’s banquet called The Great Chefs & Wineries where we invite all the great restaurants and all the great wineries in Marin and Sonoma counties to come and make a one dish, one wine table. It’s a black-tie event featuring an enormous, incredible buffet. We raise tons of money, and it all goes to a great cause. I am chairman so I say a few words; it’s very gratifying. There’s a lot to be learned from these very special people. They joyfully notice the little things that we don’t pay any attention to, and they radiate happiness. It’s a wonderful, important cause.

TG: Let’s start with your hearing loss. In 1987 you suddenly lost hearing in one of your ears. How did you cope and how difficult was it to keep performing?

HL: Let’s go with that; how exciting. Hit me with the hits — hearing loss; let’s do it. I exist on these hearing aids, which Bluetooth connects to my phone and my television. I am really very, very deaf and it’s probably getting worse. I’m possibly headed for a cochlear implant, which is not a fun thing. But if you really can’t hear, it becomes a fun, necessary thing.

TG: You were able to overcome losing the hearing in your right ear but you were still able to perform and hear with just one ear.

HL: I was diagnosed with Meniere’s Disease 35 years ago. At first, I had a bout of intense vertigo; it was so bad they had to take me to the hospital but no one could figure out what it was. The doctors gave me some medicine of some sort and three hours later I was fine. About 30 years ago I lost the hearing in my right ear. I was able to exist on one ear for a long time. Then six years ago my left ear went and now I can’t hear music at all and I can’t perform. I can’t hear pitch. With the aid of hearing aids I can hear you and I can hear a conversation with three or four people at a time, maybe, if I am in a quiet room. In a noisy room I can only hear one person and I need to be looking at that person to understand the conversation.

TG: If music is playing, you can’t hear it? Is that correct?

HL: Zero. I cannot hear music. You can play one of my songs and I can’t identify the song; that’s how bad I am. Speech exists in a much narrower frequency than music. Music, even one note, occurs in all frequencies with harmonics and overtones and undertones. Just listening to you is a struggle for me; it’s changed me. My show on Broadway, The Heart of Rock and Roll, has been my salvation in a lot of ways. It’s given me a creative outlet and kept me busy.

Zen Buddhists say you need three things in life: something to love, something to hope for and something to do. The something to hope for and the something to do are my show on Broadway. I have other things going on as well. I’m lucky; I remind myself that plenty of people are way worse off than I am. I’m not dead; I’m just deaf. I’m actually a glass half full kind of guy. I’m a major key, not a minor key guy.

TG: I can’t wait to see your musical, The Heart of Rock and Roll. Everyone I know is excited about it. What’s the genesis of the show? I know our Travelgirl readers will want to head to New York to see it. I absolutely love Broadway and I’m thrilled you are bringing your music to the Great White Way!

HL: I love Broadway too. It’s the most challenging and therefore the most rewarding of artistic expression. It’s totally collaborative and it’s complicated. [We made a documentary about our song We Are the World (in 1985, 46 legendary musicians came together for one night to raise money for African aid)]. The iconic Quincy Jones, who co-produced the song, addressed us before we performed the background vocals. This isn’t in the documentary, but Quincy said, “Look people, here’s what we are doing, we are building a house. We are going to start with the foundation, order the tracks, put in the walls, the studs and put a roof on it. That’s what we are doing now, putting up studs and we will finish the work later on.” His description was really clever. The metaphor for making a record is building a house. Well, if that’s true, then putting on a Broadway show is building a city with parks and pathways and all kinds of paraphernalia. I love it and it’s been a really fun trip.

TG: Does your hearing loss make creating a Broadway musical more difficult?

HL: It makes it impossible to hear the music, but I lost hearing in my left ear six years ago on January 17. Before that I could hear music. As it so happens, you only need one ear to hear. When I lost hearing in my first ear, I went to my EENT doctor. My father was a doctor and he sent me to the best EENT doctor in all of Northern California. I went to see this specialist and he told me to adapt to the hearing loss. I reiterated to him that I was a musician and a singer. The doctor told me I only needed one ear to hear. He told me Brian Wilson [The Beach Boys] only had hearing in one ear and Jimi Hendrix only had hearing in one ear.

The doctor also told me that he only had hearing in one ear and that he performed in a barbershop quartet. I existed on one ear for a long time, and I had that ear and hearing seven years ago when we imagined this show. I had reimagined most of the songs by that time. Our musical director, Brian Usifer, is brilliant. He has done his homework so thoroughly. He knows our music so well that he has reimagined the songs and given them their own setting. There is very little to quibble with, even when I could hear. As a footnote, they had to make me a producer because of the songs and now they have to listen to everything I have to say.

TG: It’s your music they are performing.

HL: It’s my music and my show now!

TG: You were born in New York City but grew up in California. Did you have an interest in music when you were young? Your father was a doctor but he was also a musician; I believe he played the drums. Did he encourage your interest in music?

HL: My old man absolutely had an influence on me. There was a set of drums in my living room my whole life. Since my early years, I spent my life surrounded by musical equipment. My father didn’t like singers; he liked big band jazz. He would play these big band jazz records, instrumental stuff and every once and a while there would be a singer. Naturally I wanted to rebel a little bit so I kind of dug the singers. My first influences were Mr. Five by Five, Count Basie and all the old blues singers and musicians.

TG: You have two plays featuring your music on Broadway. Your own, The Heart of Rock and Roll, and Back to the Future. It’s astounding; two plays running concurrently.

HL: It’s amazing and I’m not sure it’s ever happened before. I don’t know if it’s true or not. Someone told me that but even if it is true, it doesn’t mean that I’m Richard Rodgers.

TG: Let’s talk about the genesis of Back to the Future. It’s a beloved film and your name is synonymous with that movie. You contributed to the soundtrack and had a small role in the movie. Please talk about your experiences with that film and your iconic songs that are central to the show. Did you have any idea it would become a landmark film?

HL: I had no idea it would be such a paramount hit. I was asked to take a meeting with [Steven] Spielberg, who was the executive producer, Robert Zemeckis and Bob Gale, whose story it is. Neil Canton was also a writer on the show. The meeting was organized through Amblin Entertainment, which had just started. We sat there and Zemeckis told me they had written this movie about a kid named Marty McFly, and his favorite band would be Huey Lewis and the News. So, they asked me to write some songs. I was flattered. I told Zemeckis I didn’t necessarily know how to write for film and honestly I didn’t fancy writing a song called Back to the Future

Zemeckis said, “Oh, no, no, no, we don’t care what the song is called. We just want one of your songs in the film.” He told me that whatever I decided, that’s the one it will be. Well, I thought the next thing we do is write and we wrote The Power of Love. It’s a little more complicated than that. I didn’t think it was going to work because Power of Love is a love song, right? There is no love object in the film. But they used it wonderfully and it was a great lesson.

We’ve tried to employ the same thing in our Broadway show, which is the idea that songs help a musical or a show when they are tangentially tied to the project; not when the songs are a literal translation of what’s going on. If the song was just called Back to the Future, it wouldn’t have been so universal, if you will. I tried to do that with The Heart of Rock and Roll. It’s important that the songs move the story forward. The songs in my show are laid out beautifully by Tyler Mitchell and Jonathan A. Abrams. Their initial layout is brilliant because they know the music so well. I didn’t initially realize how well the songs fit the story. But they do and it’s pretty cool.

TG: I saw Back to the Future on Broadway. When they sing The Power of Love everyone goes crazy and they are referencing you.

HL: First of all, Uncle Huey is a character in the show. That’s their little nod to my cameo in the film. When they play Power of Love it has nothing to do with the story at all. It’ s Marty McFly and the Pinheads and it’s my logo. It’s the triangle with Huey Lewis and the News. It’s exactly my nine-piece band with the three-piece horn section. When I first saw it in London, I was sitting next to Bob Gale. I looked at Bob and told him I thought they owed me a set design credit. He told me they only pinch from the best.

TG: Your song, The Power of Love, is synonymous with the movie, Back to the Future.

HL: Thank goodness. The film just keeps growing. We did a 35-year reunion and every five years we go on television and reassemble the cast. Huey Lewis and the News was on top of the world back then and our song, The Power of Love, was huge. It was the perfect time for us. We had just toured with our Sports album and now we had to come up with another album. You wanted to keep the momentum in those days. The Power of Love was the perfect way to continue the momentum. We recorded it and we gave it to the movie and it went straight to number one.

The Power of Love went to number one in nine weeks, which is remarkably fast. From the close of principal photography for Back to the Future to the release of the movie, it was the fastest ever completed in Hollywood history. The producers knew the song was on its way to number one and they wanted to get the movie out to gain the momentum from the song. The day the movie was released, our song, The Power of Love, was the number one song in the country.

Interestingly, we weren’t allowed to put that song on one of our albums because MCA had purchased it and owned the rights. They wouldn’t let us put it on one of our albums in America but they did in the rest of the world. Not in America but in the rest of the world we added The Power of Love to our album Fore. In the rest of the world our album Fore is way bigger than our album, Sports.

It’s interesting. In America we have numerous big hits, This is It, Heart and Soul, I Want a New Drug, Heart of Rock and Roll, Bad is Bad. In Europe they hardly know any of these songs. They know Jacob’s Ladder, Stuck With You, Power of Love, Doing It All For My Baby because those were on the other record. It’s amazing. A lot of this is business, right? One of the reasons Power of Love is such a wonderful, amazing song is because it’s in the movie and the movie was the biggest movie of all time. We have a lot of great songs, but this one was in the movie.

TG: All of these incredible songs are yours; they are part of your history. Is there one song among all these memorable hits that is your favorite?

HL: No, I can’t name a favorite. I honestly think these songs on our latest record, Her Love is Killing Me and While We’re Young, and Remind Me Why I Love You Again, are three of the best things we’ve ever done. In my opinion, I think our last record is really our best work.

TG: Please talk about making the album Weather.

HL: We released Weather. It only has seven songs because of the loss of my hearing. It’s a record that we did piece by piece. It’s what we do; we write songs and we record them. So what we were doing over the course of almost 15 years was to play shows everywhere. We would write a song and record it in our home studio. We had a very nice studio; we used to have a complex with a recording studio, offices, etc. We would record the song and learn to love it. We would take it on the road and work on it and then bring it back, record it and put it in the can. We would play it for months, then cut it and we kept doing it until we had about seven songs. It’s hard to be prolific when you’ve written over 80 songs. Because we wrote for such a long time, these are our best works, the most realized.

“I fell in love with Broadway because of all the people — all the talent. Not only are the Broadway actors talented; they are smart, funny and self-effacing.”

TG: Now I have a question from my daughter’s son, Harry. He wants to know why you changed your name from Huey Lewis and the American Express to Huey Lewis and the News?

HL: That’s a great question! The record label made us change our name. Tell Harry that’s a super good question! The reason we were Huey Lewis and the American Express, which I think is a great name, is because it’s what I thought we sounded like. I thought it was the best name ever. No one had ever done a corporate tie in, zero; it had never been done. The first person to do it was Michael Jackson with Pepsi. Prior to that, it was the kiss of death; it just wasn’t done. They were afraid that American Express would sue us. They only figured that out 24 hours before the cover had to be finished so we really only had 24 hours to come up with a name.

TG: Where did the News come from?

HL: It was me. I just thought of it. There were a bunch of other contenders, but we went with Huey Lewis and the News.

TG: You have so many top hits that are so memorable. Your songs include I Want a New Drug and Hip to be Square. How did you go from a song about drugs to one about being square?

HL: Hip to be Square was supposed to be funny. It may be my only regret writing wise. I originally wrote in the third person. In the lyrics, he used to be a renegade; he used to fool around. It was meant to define a phenomenon that David Brooks articulates in his book Bobos in Paradise on how people were dropping in after being too far out; how they were cutting their hair. It was almost like a fashion thing. I thought it was kind of funny; it’s hip to be square. I thought it would be funnier if I told it on myself but not everyone got the joke. Some might think it was an anthem for square people but it wasn’t meant to be. I think I’ve lived it down by now.

TG: Please talk about your career in acting.

HL: Lovely. I worked with Bob Altman, which was amazing. We went on location and he invited me to ride with him. The location was three hours away and I got a three-hour tutorial on film acting from him that was fascinating. Robert Altman was a great experience. I did a bunch of Just Shoot Me’s with Wendie Malick, Betty White, Valerie Bertinelli and Jane Leeves. The shows were written by Fraser writers and it was fantastic. I performed in one episode a year. For two weeks I shared a dressing room with Bob Newhart, who is fantastic and a TV legend. I have no desire to be more famous nor to appear as myself. If there’s not some acting required, I’m not interested.

TG: You played Billy Flynn in the musical Chicago on Broadway.

HL: I love the Broadway community and I loved doing Billy Flynn. What a great play, great musical and great character. I did 222 performances and I learned something every single day. The material is that rich and dense; it was just fabulous. I fell in love with Broadway because of all the people — all the talent. Not only are the Broadway actors talented; they are smart, funny and self-effacing. They are just fun. It’s great work. It’s the most demanding and therefore the most rewarding of artistic expression.

TG: Talk about the early days.

HL: Back in 1980, in the early days we had to have a hit record. There was no internet, no jam band, the only avenue to success was a hit record in a format called CHR, Contemporary Hit Radio. Top 40 started with the advent of push button radio. In the 50’s when they had push button radio, when the programmers opined it, as long as you didn’t hear something you didn’t like, you would just stick right there. So, narrow your play list and just play the top hits over and over again. That was top 40!

By late 70’s, early 80’s we had AM format, mono Top 40. FM Radio comes along with stereo but it’s still not broadcasting with a lot of watts. But it is stereo and it’s a free format.

Radio was the only format we all competed on. So if you had a hit there it was a big, big hit. It was unique for its time and we had to have a hit record. We insisted on producing the records ourselves because I knew we were going to have to make commercial decisions that I was going to have to live with. We aimed every song right at radio. Sports sounds like a record of its time; it’s a collection of singles and different styles.

“I’m not dead; I’m just deaf. I’m actually a glass half full kind of guy. I’m a major key, not a minor key guy.”

Conventional wisdom says you can’t do that, you have to stick with one genre, but we were all over the map. Bad is Bad is like a little bluesy thing. Honky Tonk Blues is a country song. Thin Line is a big hard rocker and One New Drug is kind of a dance tune. We consciously aimed each one of these songs as a single at radio. I knew we needed a hit and I didn’t know which one was going to hit. Our records hit so hard we were touring coliseums and achieving our dreams and doing really well financially. After that happened, I made a decision with myself and the rest of the band that this was the last thing I would ever do for commerciality. If it didn’t make artistic sense, we were not going to do it. I’ve done exactly that ever since.

TG: You are pretty amazing with a harmonica.

HL: My mom was a hippy. When she divorced my dad she moved to another house and rented out a room to a boarder. The boarder was a folk singer named Billy Roberts; he wrote Hey Joe. He had lots of harmonicas and when they would go out of tune, he would give them to me. I was in high school so I started playing harmonica. I graduated high school a year early at 16 years old; my dad told me there was one thing I had to do. He told me to take a year off and bum around Europe. I told him I had been accepted to Cornell and he said no, take a year off and head to Europe. He actually made me do that. I took the harmonica with me; it fit the image.

My mother told me that was the first good decision my old man had ever made. She gave me a Bob Dylan record and told me the poets love this guy and told me to check it out. I listened to the Dylan record, brought my harmonica and in my mind, I was a wandering minstrel throughout the world. I hitchhiked Europe, hitch-hiked North Africa; I went to Marrakech for a day and stayed three months.

TG: Travelgirl wants to know, do you have a favorite travel destination?

HL: I have several places I want to visit. I’m a fanatic flyfisherman and I want to go the Seychelles and fish. That’s a bucket list thing.

TG: Huey, you’ve paved quite a path. Do you have any sage advice for those young hopefuls who aspire to one day follow in your legendary footsteps?

HL: I’ve always told people that unless a career in music is the only thing — the only thing — you want to do, I suggest you go back to school and study. If it is the only thing you want to do, then listen to everyone and pick and choose the advice that you want to take. Think through it all, keep dancing and in the final analysis, trust your instincts. Just keep at it; keep trying and working.

The post TG Coverguy: Huey Lewis appeared first on Travelgirl.

From small-town Tennessee to Las Vegas and Netflix, Leanne Morgan talks about her life and gets 50 million YouTube views

Travelgirl: It’s a pleasure to welcome you to Travelgirl Magazine. I was recently in Las Vegas and saw the large billboard outside the Wynn announcing your show. How did a girl from Tennessee make her way to the Wynn Hotel in Las Vegas? First, please tell me about growing up in Tennessee.

Leanne Morgan: I was raised in a town of 500 people, a farming community in middle Tennessee on the Kentucky- Tennessee border called Adams, TN. My people are farmers on both sides, going generations back. I was raised there until I went to college at the University of Tennessee. I always wanted to be in show business from the time I was a little girl. I didn’t know how or when, but I ended up being in standup.

TG: You graduated with a degree from the University of Tennessee and married your sweetheart Chuck. You two moved to Bean Station, Tennessee and started your family. Will you elaborate on these years?

LM: Chuck and I met at the University of Tennessee and he bought a refurbishing manufactured housing business in his 20s, and moved us to Bean Station, TN, and I got pregnant with our first baby Charlie. I worked for Chuck for a little while. I’m country and rural, but this was a different kind of rural. I got my degree in Child and Family Studies Crisis Intervention Counseling. I thought I would be a therapist if I wasn’t going to make it in Hollywood. I mostly wanted to be a momma more than anything.

TG: You seem to be quite the entrepreneur. You started selling jewelry at home parties. I read you were hilarious at these parties. Please talk about this.

LM: I didn’t want to go to work full time and leave Charlie, but I wanted a side hustle to make a little money in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains–you know to get my hair done and buy Charlie outfits. My friend was selling jewelry and asked me if I wanted to sell jewelry too. I would go into women’s houses and put jewelry on kitchen tables and eat dip and brownies. I developed an act and women thought I was funny. These women actually even started booking me about a year in advance.

TG: You said you had a moment, when you were selling jewelry, that you realized you could make it in comedy. It’s funny. Can you elaborate?

LM: I was at somebody’s house. There was a woman sitting on the couch, her name was Carmen, and she got so tickled about something that I said that she pee-peed on the couch. That was a God moment for me. I knew I was funny. I wanted to do standup, but I didn’t know how it would be possible when I was in the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains. When she laughed, I knew I could do it. I could make it in comedy. I am still good friends with Carmen after all these years. I tell her all the time that she was part of that decision that I made. I knew I could go for it. The jewelry company noticed that I was booking so far in advance, that they asked me to speak at their large events.

TG: Were there any early mentors in your life who encouraged you to pursue your dream of becoming a stand-up comedian?

LM: There was a man named Dennis Swanberg who was a Christian comedian performing at one of those large jewelry events that I spoke at and he told me off stage that I could do it. That was pivotal. It meant a lot to me and I thought ‘Okay, I can do this.’ Also Brian Dorfman. He let me open at Zanies Comedy Club 20-some years ago, and after my set he said “I think you’ve got something, but it’s going to be hard to do this with three babies, traveling and leaving them. But I think you got it. You’re just going to have to find another way.” I knew I had to figure it out and take a different path.

TG: You were becoming successful and raising a family. How did you balance both your rising career and your family? You’ve been successful at both.

LM: I had to just take what I could, being a momma, I would do a lot of private and local corporate events. Chuck would travel during the week. I would go on the weekends, and just work around his schedule and the kids’ schedules. I came third but that was okay. I never felt that I didn’t get to do my own thing because I always wanted my family to be my first priority. I would do comedy clubs every once in a while, but I had to do what I could to accommodate my family. I always wanted to put them first.

TG: Talk about a girl who lived in Bean Station, Tennessee making it to the Just For Laughs Festival in Montreal. Were you intimidated or does that Leanne moxie get you out there?

LM: It is intimidating because I did not come up in the New York or LA comedy scene. I always felt like an outsider. When I did get invited to something like that, I was intimidated. But now I feel pretty good about it. I’m 58 years old and now after all these tours and doing a movie, I finally feel like I have a place there.

TG: You are not only a stand-up success, but you have also over three million followers across social media and your online special, So-Yummy, has reached over 50 million views on YouTube. Please talk about So-Yummy.

LM: Honest to goodness nothing else was going on in my career and I was thinking about quitting. Then out of the blue, Dry Bar Comedy asked me to do a special. I honestly thought nobody would see it. I did a bunch of old material.

TG: I watched your Netflix special Leanne Morgan: I’m Every Woman. So many moments in that show are relatable to all of us. I laughed and laughed. Please talk about writing and performing the show.

LM: Well, I was doing this material before COVID, and then COVID stopped everything, and there was a lot of time off. There were a lot of things I probably lost and couldn’t remember, so I started building it back up and performing again after COVID. Every time I do any new hour, I’m always weaving in my family, and it takes me a while to get it, but it’s always something to do with what’s happening in my life. I’ve got grandbabies; I’ve gone through menopause. Throughout my 20 years of comedy, there is always something going on in my real life. The Netflix special was what was going on in my life at that time. And I am a storyteller, so I’m long winded. It is not small bits. It is always long stories of my life and my family.

TG: You are living proof that through hard work you can attain your dreams. Do you have any sage advice for those young hopefuls out there who hope to be the next Leanne Morgan?

LM: If this is something you know in your heart that you need to be doing, then keep going. Listen to your gut. If this is something you’re meant to be doing, then follow what you’re passionate about. Hard work pays off; it’s not a short-term thing. Keep going, keep working, keep doing what you love and never give up.

TG: You travel constantly. Do you have one special item you never leave home without?

LM: My iPad!!! I love my iPad so that I can watch my shows and look at pictures of my grandbabies.

TG: Travelgirl readers will want to know, do you have a special place you love to travel to and what’s on Leanne’s travel bucket list?

LM: I really enjoy everywhere, but I love going to the Carolina and Georgia coasts, like Charleston and Savannah. All around there has been a favorite. I would really like to go over to the UK, and do a tour in the UK.

TG: Talk about what’s next on your busy career. This summer you have a tour called Just Getting Started and you will be seen on the screen in the Amazon Prime feature, You’re Cordially Invited, starring alongside Will Ferrell and Reese Witherspoon.

LM: I’m hoping to do television, more touring, and more movies! I also have a book coming out in September 2024 called What in the World?.

TG: What’s the one most important thing you want Travelgirl readers to know about Leanne Morgan?

LM: I want them to know that I feel this is more than comedy. Since this has happened to me, my fans have been more like friends and a community, and they have lifted me up and want to see me win. It is bigger than comedy and more special and sweeter than anything I could have ever imagined. I want people to know how much I appreciate my career and the love my fans give me.

TG: Is there one charity you want to mention, so you could help

LM: My family is incredibly involved with East Tennessee Children’s Hospital and childhood illnesses. My husband is a volunteer and a baby cuddler. My daughter Maggie works in development and raises money for the hospital, and my grandson was in the NICU and East Tennessee Children’s Hospital took wonderful care of him.

TG: I have truly loved researching and reading about you. You are an absolute treasure and I am more than delighted to get to know you and to welcome you to Travelgirl Magazine.

The post TG Covergirl: Leanne Morgan appeared first on Travelgirl.

Iconic country singer is a sensation on the music charts, on television and in Las Vegas.

It’s a great honor to welcome back country music superstar Luke Bryan to Travelgirl. This legendary giant of country music graced our cover a few years back. We are honored to tell more of his motivational and inspirational story. The uber talented Luke Bryan has garnered more than 22 billion worldwide streams and has released more than 30 number one hits. This ambassador of good will and singer/songwriter superstar amassed 56 total weeks at number one in his career. He was recently presented with the SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award in recognition of his standing as one of the most streamed artists in SoundExchange’s 20-year history.

The five-time Entertainer of the Year has played for more than 14 million fans. His headline concert tours have played sold-out performances for millions of fans in more than 40 stadium concerts, Farm Tours, Spring Break shows, and sold-out ‘Crash My Playa’ destination concert events.

He was born in Leesburg, Georgia, on July 17, 1976, and his keen interest in music began when he was young, listening to his parents’ records, which included music from country stars Merle Haggard and George Strait. When Luke turned 14, his parents purchased a guitar for him and Luke began singing with local bands. He honed his craft in high school, performing in musicals and writing his own songs. He was on his way to stardom.

Travelgirl: You were born in Leesburg, Georgia, and your dad was a farmer. What was it like growing up with your family in Georgia?

Luke Bryan: Growing up in Georgia, my dad was a farmer and we worked in agriculture, so we were always looking up at the sky, checking if rain was in the forecast. That always set the tone for the mood in my household, whether we had rain coming in or not — we knew the crops would be good and it was going to be a good week around the Bryan household.

At age 19, Luke was heading to Nashville when tragedy struck and his beloved older brother Chris was killed in an automobile crash. Luke stayed home, attended Georgia Southern University, and worked on his dad’s peanut farm — all the while playing music at night. In 2001, with his family’s insistence, Luke relocated to Nashville and landed a songwriting contract. He wrote for several renowned artists including Travis Tritt and performed his music at night. Capitol Records caught his show and signed him and, the rest, shall we say, is history.

The accolades poured in, and Luke Bryan’s career took off. He wrote a wealth of number one hits including Rain is a Good Thing, Kiss Tomorrow Goodbye, Fast, Crash My Party, That’s My Kind of Night, and numerous others. As his career skyrocketed so did the awards. Country Aircheck named Bryan the Most Heard Artist of the Last Decade. He’s won almost 50 major music awards and has amassed close to 30 number one hits. The awards continued. Luke Bryan became the first recipient of the ACM Album of the Decade for his Crash My Party Album of 2013. He’s been a CMT Artist of the Year six times and has sold over 12 million albums.

His latest sensational hit, But I Got A Beer In My Hand, which was written by Chase McGill, Matt Dragstrem, and Geoff Warburton, was produced by Jeff Stevens and co-produced by Jody Stevens, is in the Top Ten. This song comes on the heels of Luke’s 30th #1 single Country On, which ended the 2022 charts as the final #1 of the year. The release of Country On continues Luke’s record of 29 career #1 singles and 17.2 billion worldwide streams on country radio.

TG: Your song Country On is so uplifting.

LB: I love that the song uplifts the hardworking American people out there, and it brings a lot of unity. It just has feel-good vibes all the way around it and anytime you can reference country music fans in a song, and you can really make it feel natural, it’s great. And this song does just that.

Luke Bryan is a humanitarian in every sense of the word. He’s humble, gracious and incredibly charitable. He was honored as the 2021 Artist Humanitarian Award recipient for his numerous philanthropic undertakings. Luke’s Farm Tours are motivating. He began these tours in 2009 and thus far Luke Bryan has granted 83 college scholarships to students from farming families attending the local college or university near the places the tour performs.

He works tirelessly for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Nashville where all children are treated for free, regardless of their circumstances. His support of the Make-A-Wish Foundation is inspirational. He lost his devoted sister Kelly in 2007 and her husband in 2014 after which Luke and his beloved wife Caroline became guardians for their nieces and nephew. Luke and Caroline are incredibly proud of their own two sons, Thomas “Bo” and Tatum “Tate” Bryan.

Bryan told the stories of his many successes and heartbreaks in November 2017 when he gave us a look at his life in Living Every Day: Luke Bryan. It’s a triumph told in the first person.

Luke will play his final dates of his record-breaking headline engagement at Resorts World Las Vegas, “Luke Bryan: VEGAS,” with six remaining shows — including New Year’s Eve!! — on December 29, 30 & 31, 2023 and January 3, 5 & 6, 2024. Tickets available at axs.com/lukeinvegas.

TG: Your tenure at Resorts World Las Vegas has been a huge success. Fans can still garner a seat; you have performances scheduled for late December and early January. It’s really a phenomenal and quite extraordinary show.

LB: We’ve worked long and hard to put together an incredible, high-energy show for the fans. I am so proud of how it turned out and I hope everyone who comes leaves there having as much fun as me.

My favorite place to be is on stage performing for country music fans. So thankful every night when I walk out on that stage and know you are there to have a blast along beside me. It never gets old.

Luke and NFL legend Peyton Manning recently hosted “The 57th Annual CMA Awards”; it’s a return engagement for these two talents and the show was a huge success. Next year Luke Bryan will return for a seventh season with Katy Perry and Lionel Richie as celebrity judges on ABC’s American Idol. January 17-20 Luke will headline two “Crash My Playa” concerts with special guest appearances by Dierks Bentley and Eddie Montgomery. Tickets are on sale now and there will be a host of additional performers. Log onto CrashMyPlaya.com to purchase packages and garner more information.

The post TG Coverguy: Luke Bryan appeared first on Travelgirl.

Carrie Underwood has won more than 100 awards including eight Grammys, 16 ACM Awards and was inducted into the Grand Ole Opry when she was a mere 26 years old. She is the most awarded female country artist for singles in RIAA (the Recording Industry Association of America®) history. She has recorded 28 number one singles, sold more than 85 million records and has the honor of being the most awarded female country singer.

In 2013 Underwood performed Sunday Night Football’s theme song, “Waiting All Day for Sunday Night,” which became a huge fan favorite. She’s starred in the NBC televised production of The Sound of Music playing the lead role of Maria.

This legendary luminary is also an entrepreneur and author. In 2014 Underwood launched CALIA, a line of fitness apparel, and in 2020 she penned released the self-help fitness and lifestyle book Find Your Path: Honor Your Body, Fuel Your Soul, and Get Strong with the Fit52 Life, a New York Times best seller.

Travelgirl: We are honored to have you aboard Travelgirl Magazine. You were born in Muskogee, Oklahoma, raised on a farm and loved growing up there. Oklahoma’s so proud of their hometown girl! I was at the Oklahoma Centennial when you brought down the house!!! In 2017, you were inducted into the Oklahoma Hall of Fame. Would you please talk about growing up in Oklahoma?

Carrie Underwood: Being raised in Checotah and in Oklahoma definitely shaped the person I am today. My parents taught me the importance of working hard and to always be grateful for what you have. I loved growing up on a farm as it taught me to appreciate the land, which probably helped plant the seeds for my love of land and gardening. Even now, when I visit my family in Oklahoma, I feel such a sense of peace. I can really just relax there.

TG: 2004 was a banner year for you. You were majoring in journalism and decided to try out for American Idol, which you won. You were on your way to stardom and you managed to return to school at Northeastern State University where you graduated magna cum laude with a B.A. in mass communications. How did you manage stardom so early and what prompted you to go back and finish college? Would you please share a few memories from that time in your life?

CU: The decision to audition for American Idol changed the entire trajectory of my life. I loved music and performing, but at that point I was planning to pursue a career in broadcast journalism. The idea that everything that came after that was more than I could have even dreamed for, let alone think it could actually happen. It was all such a whirlwind, in the best possible way.

TG: You’ve sold over 85 million records worldwide. You’ve won a wealth of awards including eight GRAMMY Awards, 16 ACM Awards including winning Entertainer of the Year three times. You ended 2022 as Billboard’s top Country female. You are a New York Times bestselling author and successful entrepreneur. Seven of your albums are certified multi-platinum or platinum by the RIAA. You were inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry in 2008 and were honored with a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame in 2018. How have you kept so grounded all these years? You are humble, gracious and give lots of time to worthwhile causes.

CU: Again, I credit my family with always teaching me to be grateful for the gifts God gives us and the blessings we enjoy every day. I’m very proud of what I’ve been able to achieve in my career but, more importantly, always remember the things that matter the most — faith, family, and gratitude.

TG: Please talk about your fitness app fit52, which you launched in 2020. Every Travelgirl will want to participate and get fit.

CU: fit52 is my app where I can share all the things I’ve learned about fitness and nutrition. My trainer, Eve Overland, and I have such a great time creating new content for the app and I love that we have created a community of people who want to share their journeys, whether they are just starting out on that path or are looking for new and different ways to approach working in working out into their lives.

TG: In December, 2021, you became the first artist to perform at the new Resorts World Theatre in Las Vegas; you actually opened this marvelous venue. Your show, REFLECTION: The Las Vegas Residency, garners rave reviews and you constantly perform to sold-out crowds. You will be on stage at Resorts World in September, November 30 and December. Please talk about your sensational show and performing in this marvelous arena. You dazzle the audience each evening.

CU: I love having our ongoing residency, REFLECTION. As much fun as it is to be on the road, which we were earlier this year with The Denim & Rhinestones Tour, it’s great to be able to be in one place and to put on a show that we could never move from city to city on a concert tour. We have some incredible set pieces and effects. When we were creating REFLECTION, we knew we really needed to put on a show worthy of the glitz and glamour of Las Vegas and the fun and energy of Nashville, and we’ve really accomplished that. I will always love being on the road and coming to the fans where they are, but it’s also really cool that we can be in Las Vegas for periods of time and perform a show we love for audiences who come from all over the world to see us.

TG: Do you have a favorite song and if so, what does it mean to you?

CU: Well, it’s not fair to choose one favorite… but of course Jesus, Take the Wheel will always have a special place in my heart. Not only was it the first single from my first album and the first hit, it just meant the world to be able to wear my faith on my sleeve and lay the groundwork for a career that melds who I am as a person and as an artist.

TG: Will you please talk about the C.A.T.S. Foundation and let our Travelgirl readers know how they can help.

CU: I wanted to create an organization that gave back to where I’m from, and helping to improve my hometown of Checotah, Oklahoma is extremely important to me. The C.A.T.S. Foundation (Checotah Animal, Town, and School Foundation) is all about giving back to the community I grew up in. We’ve helped out in all kinds of ways, from supporting the animal shelter, to the police and fire departments, to the schools (donating musical instruments and computer labs), and have been blessed enough to meet the needs of many different parts of the town. You can learn more about The C.A.T.S. Foundation on our website.

TG: Travelgirl readers will want to know if you have a favorite destination and what travel destinations are on Carrie Underwood’s bucket list.

CU: I’ve been so lucky to visit so many places here in the U.S. and around the world, I’m not sure I could pick just one. Anytime I’m able to squeeze in a little time for myself, I do love being near the water, whether it’s a pool, lake or the ocean. And visiting any vineyard anywhere always makes me a very happy girl.

TG: Do you have any sage advice for those young hopefuls out there who hope to one day walk in Carrie Underwood’s famous footsteps?

CU: Work hard and treat people the way you want to be treated. Always show up prepared and ready to do your job and never take a good opportunity for granted. Remember to have gratitude and humility.

TG: This month you are releasing Denim & Rhinestones (Deluxe Edition). What can we expect from that?

CU: I loved recording Denim & Rhinestones, which we released last year and we just couldn’t include everything we wanted to on the album. I knew I just had to extend the Denim & Rhinestones era so we are releasing the Deluxe Edition with six new tracks, on September 22.

TG: Tell us about your year-round channel, CARRIE’S COUNTRY, on SiriusXM.

CU: We launched CARRIE’S COUNTRY in June and it’s been so much fun getting to welcome listeners into my personal musical universe. I get to share my favorite music across all of the genres I love, from classic rock to the latest in country and a lot of special features highlighting everything from fitness to gardening, behind the scenes and more. fit52.com; thecatsfoundation.com

TG: Thank you for brightening all our lives.

The post Carrie Underwood: From American Idol to Superstar and Entrepreneur appeared first on Travelgirl.

The illustrious and uber-talented Michael Feinstein is a dynamic force in the world of music. He is a five Grammy Award nominee and has numerous Emmy nominations for his awe-inspiring PBS television specials. His work as an archivist has made him one of the most preeminent forces in music today. He is a distinguished and renowned performer, a composer and an arranger of his own original music.

Feinstein began his prolific career in his 20’s working alongside the legendary Ira Gershwin. Gershwin’s influence, along with Feinstein’s enormous talent, led the way to a remarkable career. He holds three honorary doctorates and is the noted author of The Gershwins & Me. Michael founded the Great American Songbook Foundation in 2007, which celebrates and preserves its music through educational programs, Master Classes, and the annual High School Songbook Academy. Michael devotes his time, his energy and his talent to numerous worthwhile causes and he serves on the Library of Congress’ National Recording Preservation Board.

Travelgirl: It’s a pleasure to see you again. As you know, I’m a huge fan. You were enchanting in Atlanta. What a performance and your storytelling about former Jewish performers was enlightening and entertaining. We were all mesmerized. The crowd stayed through several standing ovations.
Michael Feinstein: I appreciate that; I really do. Anytime I can perform the music I love is wonderful. Being Jewish is a part of who I am and life is about building bridges. We all have certain backgrounds and if one looks beneath the surface we find the common bond of humanity that is necessary for happiness and survival. I’m deeply affected by Judaism. It is a religion that at its core teaches about helping others. If one is given the gift of health and any kind of prosperity, it is incumbent for that person to give back in whatever way they can. I am mindful of that. Giving back is a pleasure and a natural thing for me.

When I left my hometown of Columbus, Ohio, at the age of 20, my grandmother had just gone into assisted living at the Heritage House, a Jewish residence for older folks in Columbus. When I moved to California, I started playing at the Jewish home for the aged twice a week. I did that just because I hoped someone would come and play for my grandmother in Ohio. I developed a great bond with the residents and I met amazing people. There was a man in there named Walter Schnell, who was a Holocaust survivor, and to hear his story was something. He was in an internment camp and was sent to a Jewish community in China, and he spent most of his years there. Walter’s stories of survival were so life-changing; how could anyone ever be the same after experiences like that!

My experience at the Jewish home was so powerful. My mother, who is 95, was just accepted as a resident in the Jewish home
and one of the reasons I was able to get her residency there was due to something I had done 40 years ago, without any thought of
reward for it. Life takes unexpected, beautiful turns.

TG: I understand you starting playing the piano by ear as a five-year-old. Your mother Florence was an amateur tap dancer and your father Edward was an amateur singer.
MF: My parents bought a new house and had saved $500 to buy furniture for the living room. My father impulsively said let’s get a piano because my parents loved music. There was so much music around our house. My mother had been a professional tap dancer until she married. I must have soaked up all of that music. When they bought this upright piano, and started playing the piano with both hands, right off the bat. My father was not home but my mother came into the room and asked me who had taught me to play and I told her no one had taught me. My mother didn’t believe me; she didn’t think it was possible for me to play the piano without some sort of instruction and I was sent to my room for lying.

TG: Whoa, seriously?
MF: Yes, seriously. I stayed in my room until my father came home later that night and realized I was playing the piano by ear. The ability to play like that is something that has always been with me, and it’s always been natural. I believe in reincarnation so I think I must have come in with some past memory that stuck.

TG: Who encouraged you and did you have a mentor in your early years in Columbus?
MF: No one really encouraged me. I’ve always been interested in spirituality. I believe that all beliefs fundamentally come back to a single truth. I’ve never been particularly religious but the more esoteric and spiritual aspects of Judaism I find quite attractive. It’s a feeling of being in direct contact with a divine presence.

TG: You moved to Los Angeles when you were 20. How did you meet the widow of Oscar Levant? I understand she introduced you to Ira Gershwin in July 1977 and you became his assistant. You’ve kept Gershwin and their music alive and prominent all these years. Would you talk about those years with Ira and the influences he had on you?
MF: Absolutely. Indeed I was introduced to Leonore Gershwin by Julie Levant with whom I had become friends by a series of amazing coincidences, even though now I don’t believe in coincidences. The moment I met Ira it felt just as if we were long lost cousins. There was an immediate connection regardless of the fact that he was 80 and I was 20. I began cataloging his phonograph records, which I thought would take a couple of weeks, but I ended up there for six months working just on that project. I would see Ira every day and he became fascinated by this 20-year old kid who knew so much about his work. He was at a point in his life where he thought the world had passed him by. Here was this young man who knew so much about his work, he almost found it freaky in the sense that I knew facts about his life that he didn’t know.

One day we had a gentle argument about what date something had happened. Ira said it was 1930 because this and this had happened, and I told him actually it was 1931 and I found a reference book to show him what the chronology was. Ira said okay, you are right, but you have an advantage over me and I asked what he meant. He told me he had only lived his life, but that I had totally researched it.

We had a very close and loving relationship because Ira had no children. He would have been a wonderful father but his wife didn’t want kids. So I became the surrogate son or grandson that he never had. It was life changing for me because I had moved to Los Angeles less a year earlier playing in piano bars trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life and suddenly things crystallized. I felt I had a greater purpose. I still played in piano bars, which was my main income until I was hired on a full time basis by Ira, and that lasted six years. That period, ages 20 to 26, is very impactful and important in anyone’s life. Those years helped to crystallize a lot of things in my world personally, spiritually and professionally.

TG: You are an incredibly talented performer, a composer, an arranger, a musical director and an author. You’ve received three honorary doctorates, and your book The Gershwins & Me is a best-seller published by Simon & Schuster. Which of one of your numerous talents most defines you? If I asked you what you are, what would you say?
MF: I would say LUCKY! I’ve been very lucky. I’m a singer, an interpreter of American popular song and a conservator of it. I’ve amassed this huge collection of music and artifacts relating to this music just to save and preserve it. I’m lucky that I can perform the music that I love because the world and the audiences are changing. I was in my late 20’s when my career began to garner national attention and yet I discovered music finds new fans. It doesn’t diminish in power.

TG: Please talk about your latest album, Gershwin Country.
MF: That was one of my most fulfilling projects in that it was unlike any other recording I’ve even done. Most of the other recordings I have created were completed rather quickly because most are taped live and are comparatively easy to create. Most pop records are built through production. This Gershwin album was certainly a departure for me in many ways. One, I had never done anything related to country music, and two, it was an album of duets. I had never wanted to record an album of duets because I usually found they were created for cynical reasons, for reasons of commerce.

This album was one I put together because I felt that Gershwin’s music was a certain kind of Americana as is country western, country as we call it now. It seemed like the album could be a bridge in combining two styles of music and genres that I thought could be complementary. Many of these songs were written for the stage and were created as duets. That seemed to be another element that would make organic sense. The hardest part of putting together a duet recording between a man and a woman was finding complementary keys. Usually a woman’s keys are four or five steps away from a man’s. These duets were very carefully created with vocal lines and harmonies so it’s a true collaboration. It had a real purpose of combining the emotion of two different hearts and souls to tell the story.

TG: You’ve joined forces with Jean-Yves Thibaudet presenting Two Pianos: Who Could Ask for Anything More. Please talk about the collaboration and what sparked this amazing collaboration?
MF: Johnny Thibaudet is one of the greatest living concert pianists. He truly is a global sensation in that he plays concerts in every corner of the world. He plays a varied repertoire. In other words, many concert pianists will do a tour where they play the same repertoire with an orchestra in recitals in different cities; it’s one program. He plays multiple programs with great depth and interpretive brilliance and his musical palette is very, very broad.

We’ve been friends for 30 years. We became closer through the years and talked about collaborating but couldn’t figure out what it would be because our worlds are so different. Our approach to music is different. I play mainly extemporaneously, and he doesn’t.

He plays mainly what’s on the page better than anybody. We realized that the bridge of Gershwin was a common bond. When he was 13 growing up in France he discovered the world of Gershwin and it changed his life. I had the same experience.

It was that shared love for something that transcends culture and time and space that brought us together. We put together a program that is primarily American popular song although it does include Rhapsody in Blue, and we present the music largely played on two pianos. Gershwin loved two pianos and often wrote for two pianos and then I sing, of course.

The Gershwin songs, along with the music of Richard Rogers and other composers of the era, are presented in a style that is in some ways more authentic to the composers original intention but also has more of a contemporary sensibility to it. The programs have been received rapturously. We just did two nights with the Boston Pops, which was our first incarnation of this program with a symphony orchestra and there was pandemonium in the audience. The reaction was so fervent and touching and we are definitely on to something, and we are thrilled. It brings together two different audiences that seem to be very complementary.

TG: I spent a day interviewing your dear friend Liza Minnelli. Please talk about Liza and your upcoming touring show, Get Happy, a tribute to Judy Garland.
MF: I’m very proud of this program that pays tribute to Judy Garland. It’s one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to assemble. The enormity of her talent and legend is such that I didn’t know that I had the wherewithal to properly convey her greatness. It truly is because of Liza that I continued to pursue the project because I was ready to give it up at any point if I couldn’t give it justice. I didn’t want to do anything that was half baked. As I continued to assemble the program, as I figured out what it should be and shouldn’t be, I enlisted the aid of several wonderful people including John Fricke, who has an archive of thousands of photographs of Garland and Judy Garland’s family. That stockpile of material along with things that Liza and her family made available to me helped me to assemble a program that is very historical and very entertaining with anecdotes. It celebrates the incredible art that she, as a performing artist, displayed even from her earliest years. I realized that I had the opportunity to tell her story focusing on the talent, her singing and her legacy as opposed to the tabloid stuff.

It celebrates Judy Garland; it doesn’t whitewash anything, but it focuses on the enduring part of her legacy. The response of people in the audience has been quite extraordinary. There is something about her energy that is very personal to people and very powerful. There are numerous visuals in the show, several film clips and there’s audio including a lost recording of hers that I found and in which I accompany her. The cumulative effect is extraordinary. Part of the time people are looking at the visuals while I am singing and I don’t mind that at all because the show is about her and I am the tour guide, if you will.

TG: Your bio is so prolific it’s hard to put it all into an interview. Your Emmy Award-nominated TV special, Michael Feinstein – The Sinatra Legacy, which was taped live in 2011 was a huge success. You were the Principal Pops Conductor for the Pasadena POPS and you serve as Artistic Director of the Palladium Center for the Performing Arts in Carmel, Indiana Indiana. Your performance schedule is extraordinary. Where does this incredible energy and passion come from?
MK: Well, thank you. As far as energy goes I believe the universe provides infinite energy and one of the feelings of contemporary society is the lack of and recognition of the understanding that there is a source of infinite energy that is available to us. I focus on that spiritual energy. Having the great gift of being able to do something I love isn’t something I do not take for granted.

TG: I’m a huge fan of the Great American Songbook. Please talk about your passion for preserving the music and songs of the Great American Songbook and created The Great American Songbook Foundation, which you founded in 2007.
MF: The Great American Songbook Foundation is something I created a number of years ago for the purpose of preserving the American popular music that is so important to me. I felt it was in danger of disappearing in that someone needed to bring attention to the music for younger generations. I created it to not only preserve the amazing artifacts that I’ve accrued through the years but also to educate and introduce young people to the songbook.

I find that when young people hear these songs they like them; they respond to them. They have meaning and resonance and this music takes its place next to whatever pop music they listen to. I felt it was created just to preserve something that mattered to me where I felt there was a need for an organization to focus on that.

The foundation has grown by leaps and bounds. We are building a museum. We are proud to be a Grammy Foundation affiliate and only a few other museums can claim that honor.

In addition we created a summer academy, The Great American Songbook Academy. Forty young people from all over the United States come and participate for one week. It is songbook intensive and they learn about American popular music and thus they can add this music to their lives. Through music you can create healing; you can teach anything and music has the potential to offer tremendous transformation and that is certainly a mission for me.

TG: Please tell us how to contribute to this noble cause.
MF: At its core music is one of the most important forces in the world, in the universe. In its most simplistic terms think of soldiers going off to battle bolstered by the music that is being played as they march. The music transforms, heals, inspires, raises consciousness, and offers hope. All of that is encoded into any given piece of music. To bring awareness of this, especially to young people, is a holy pursuit.

Like all nonprofit arts organizations we are always happy for like-minded souls to contribute in any way they see fit. People tend to devalue the arts. People don’t think that contributing to an arts organization is as important as contributing to a cancer or similar organization but they both offer healing in different ways. To me they are equally important.The arts unites people from different backgrounds and helps them find common ground. It transforms and heals. I’ve seen it time and time again, starting with those days when I started playing in convalescent and retirement homes. I saw many whose quality of life improved through music. There is research that shows that people who have music played during their last days on earth need 40 percent less medications. There are scientific proven effects of music played for people who are ill and going through transition. It is all quite extraordinary. The experience of being involved in music is the greatest blessing of my life.

TG: Your travel schedule keeps you constantly on the road. Is there one item one of the most legendary performers never leaves home without?
MF: I am vegan and I never leave home without protein powder. I also have a deck of oracle cards that I travel with called The Cosmic Deck of Initiation because it moves me to my heart. I also always have that, and a little book called The Quiet Mind.

TG: Your music has made a difference in the lives of so many people. Your preservation of the Great America Songbook will last the test of time, and we’re very grateful. Thank you.

The post THE MARVELOUS MICHAEL FEINSTEIN appeared first on Travelgirl.

The marvelous Marsha Mason has been enormously triumphant in several wildly varied careers. She was nominated four times for an Oscar for her performances in Cinderella Liberty, The Goodbye Girl, Chapter Two and Only When I Laugh. She’s also had an extensive Broadway and London stage career, wowing audiences when she starred in Cinderella Liberty, Cactus Flower, The Prisoner of Second Avenue and Steel Magnolias. Her work with her then-husband, Neil Simon, is legendary and he based some of his plays on their relationship, most notably Chapter Two. She’s also appeared in several films including Blume in Love, The Cheap Detective, Frasier (receiving an Emmy nomination) and most recently appearing as Arlene in the Netflix series, Grace and Frankie. She’s been an organic farmer, a successful race car driver, an actress and a director. Travelgirl’s Renee Werbin recently caught up with the exuberant and talented Marsha Mason who resides in Connecticut.

Travelgirl: I’m so happy to see you again. You have had so many different careers. You were an organic farmer, a race car driver, an award-winning actress and director.
Marsha Mason: I’ve had a very full life.

TG: Which career was the most fun and which defines you the most?
MM: Acting and directing are the most fun but they are hard work. Your stamina has to be in order; you have to be in good shape to do eight performances a week. Recently I directed and starred in Lost in Yonkers for the stage, and we had a big, huge success with that. The acting, in terms of my career, was the most defining.

I had such enormous success with Cinderella Liberty and I wasn’t really ready for the success that happened so quickly; it scared me. I didn’t know how to handle it. I was naïve and I needed to grow up, which I was able to do that on the farm.

My then husband, Neil Simon, was a great protector. When I look back now, I think one of the reasons we worked so well together was because I felt so protected by him; ultimately a little too protected because Neil was so controlling. It was a wonderful relationship and I don’t regret any of it. I gained two beautiful daughters, Ellen and Nancy, whom Neil was raising alone after the death of his wife. The girls are still close to me today and now we have grandchildren and a great-grandchild. The girls and I love each other and that’s really cool. I gained so much experience in those years.

TG: You were marvelous in the role of Arlene on Grace and Frankie. It must have been enchanting working on the set with those two great actresses. I interviewed Jane Fonda for a Travelgirl cover years and years ago and she was an absolute treasure.
MM: Jane Fonda and Lily Tomlin are the cutest, totally charming, most down-to-earth fabulous women. I am in awe of both of them, especially because of their energy and their commitment, which is so strong. I think it’s phenomenal to me at their age what they have accomplished and what they are still accomplishing. They are wonderful to work with. Both are gracious, kind and considerate and I enjoyed every moment of working with them.

TG: You built a very successful business and a beautiful home during your time in Santa Fe.
MM: I did. I loved my time there. I built an Argentinean estancia and I started growing medicinal, organic herbs and became a biodynamic farmer. I began growing the business by selling fresh herbs to a man named Daniel Gagnon. I developed my product line with Mitch Coven of Vitality Works. He was making individual products for private label companies and I sold my products to him for a couple of years. The products were marvelous.

I remember when I was heading to London with Richard Dreyfuss to perform in Prisoner of Second Avenue. I thought since I’m going to be in a 400-year-old theatre – the RoyalHay Market – I knew I was going to need something for my immune system and my voice. So we, with my team in Santa Fe, created a salve for our hands. I was ahead of the curve with my medicinal products. I started out locally and then we started giving lectures for the Vitality Works people. We even created a skin and body care line using fair trade shea butter as the base and adding my herbs.

TG: Your organic farm became wildly successful, didn’t it?
MM: It did and in the process, I fell in love with and found my signature herb. It is called Spilanties and it is native to South America. It is called the toothache herb because it is anti-viral and anti-bacterial. The tribes in South America would put the flour from this herb on their teeth if they had any kind of infection. We obtained some seeds from a European company and started growing Spilanties and it became our signature herb in everything that we made.

TG: Do you still own the company?
MM: No. I sold the farm in 2014 and then I sold off the products. I still have all the recipes. What was really extraordinary, in those 20 some-odd years, was that the farm matured me as an individual. I learned to be an entrepreneur, a businesswoman, and I gained a great deal of patience. I learned to have patience. I feel the experience on the farm turned me into a better actor and a better director.

The business changed in the late 80’s and 90’s and I was missing both the theatre and New York. I started thinking about selling the farm. It took quite a while for me to make the move because I had built a big operation. I found a wonderful person who bought it and she and her husband have kept it as a farm, which is what I had hoped would happen. The land out there became desirable and people started buying it up to build houses and I didn’t want the farm to disappear. Fortunately, it’s still there and it looks beautiful. The couple who bought it has done phenomenal things; they still grow medicinal herbs. They grow organic alfalfa, because we did. They’ve practically put the whole farm on solar power.

TG: How did you get into race car driving? I know Paul Newman was the impetus and you were good friends.
MM: I was on a plane with Paul going from New York to Los Angeles. Paul was going out to Riverside in California because they were closing a racetrack and he invited me out to watch him race.

I was interested and that interest was sparked when I was in high school. My best friend’s father had a track outside of St. Louis. We spent our Sundays handing out Pit Passes to the guys who raced. There was just something out there in that environment that intrigued me. I remember looking at the way the men would wrap individual pieces of their engine in oil cloth; they took really good care of their cars. I vividly remember their intense concentration. The smell, the speed, the whole thing captured my imagination.

I had totally forgotten about those days. Whenever I could, I would fly out to wherever Paul was racing. I bought a Mazda RX3, met LA lawyer Marc Staenberg and he suggested we team up. Together we created a mom and pop operation. I enrolled in a driving school, which I didn’t even know existed. I took a course at the Bob Bondurant School, then went to Skip Barber Racing School.

I then met Mike Lewis, an SCCA (Sports Car Club of America) champion. Mike built me my own Mazda GT3 car and I drove his old championship car for a couple of seasons. I had gotten into car racing in a serious way. We had three cars, a truck and a crew and for a long time I was a race car driver!

TG: Would you get into a race car today?
MM: I actually signed up for a race in May. I’m going to try and see what happens. I could never race competitively again because I think our reflexes are slower as we age but I want to see if everything I learned about driving is still at my fingertips.

TG: You should have been on every magazine cover in the world when you were racing. Not that many women get in race cars even today and in those days, you were the girl!!!
MM: I have a vivid memory of being in Monterey and the men around me at the track weren’t quite sure what to make of me. I stayed out of their way and I learned. Eventually Mike Lewis and the crew encouraged me to become competitive and I started to pass these guys. On the track I had a couple of accidents that were not my fault, but I was very calm and collected and handled it all very well.

TG: How did you meet Neil Simon?
MM: I met Neil the first day of rehearsal on The Good Doctor. I auditioned for him. My agent had encouraged me to audition for a Broadway show. I auditioned and read the governess part and had to read it cold because I hadn’t prepared it. I read and went back to my agent’s office and thought I would receive a call back and my agent laughed; she told me they had already hired me. I made it on Broadway on my first try. I packed up everything I owned and moved back to New York. I went into rehearsals on October 3 and Neil and I were married on October 27 — two weeks later — and we lasted 10 years. We raised the girls and did wonderful work together and had immense respect for each other.

TG: Tell me about The Goodbye Girl.
MM: That was a wonderful experience. The original script was called Bogart Slept Here, which was a loose adaptation of Midnight Cowboy. It was based on the idea of a young actor with a family getting a chance to do a big movie and becoming an overnight success.

Neil rewrote the story and it became a whole new movie. I auditioned with Richard Dreyfuss and we had this immediate chemistry. We didn’t know each other but the chemistry was there. It took us all —Richard, me and Ray Stark (the producer) and Neil — by surprise. Ray hired Herb Ross to direct and he quickly hired Quinn Cummings to play the little girl and in those days you could rehearse. We were on the set rehearsing before we started the picture. We went to New York to do the exteriors and went back to LA to finish up. We had no idea if the film would be successful but fortunately the universe was with us. All the cards seemed to indicate that people were happy to have a movie they could take their kids to. All the single mothers totally related to my character’s, Paula’s, problems. The success of The Goodbye Girl wasn’t something we had anticipated.

TG: What’s next for the illustrious Marsha Mason?
MM: I’m in talks with the Hartford Stage Company to do a play there for the 24-25 season. I am very busy working on a project with a workshop about two young boys in Australia in the 1950’s who competed for the Olympics. One of the boys ended up choosing to attend Harvard instead of being in the Olympics. It’s sort of a biographical story of a boy and his journey.

It was originally a film and one of the producers suggested making it into a play and the playwright, who coincidentally also wrote Drop Dead Fred, called me. We started working on the script together and found we had a very good creative partnership.

I went to Montreal and worked with a wonderful circus group, who through their actions on stage, I realized I could handle both the physicality and the emotionality of the play. My next step is to do a integrate both in a workshop. The Alley Theatre in Houston is intrigued and excited about the possibilities of this play and is willing to give us a workshop. I just need to raise more money to pay the acrobats. As you know, nonprofits are having a bit of a hard time now.

We are also working to see if we can turn Drop Dead Fred into a musical. We will see what happens. Meanwhile, I’m reading plays and I’m still auditioning and probably will go out to LA for pilot season. We will see.

TG: You can be sure Travelgirl will be watching!!!

The post Marsha Mason appeared first on Travelgirl.

Disney Meetings and Events Team Brings its Special Magic to Every Event

Disney’s charm, charisma and expertise shine in theme parks, cruise ships and weddings. It’s a fact; Disney is known as the happiest place on earth. Enterprises throughout the world including Fortune 500 companies, foundations, corporations, family groups and businesses engage Disney to handle their private functions and these events are something to behold.

With the Disney Meetings and Events team, the client is the star. The magic is instantaneous and begins the moment you start planning your experience. The Disney Meetings and Events team plans it all. From invitations, costumes, staging to themes, each occasion is styled with panache. Invitations are unique and mesmerizing and prepared with magical care. An invite can be constructed of high-gloss paper shaped like a CD. When you open the envelope, the disc plays a song announcing the event! An invitation can showcase a new car about to be placed in production; anything you can imagine can be created by the talented Disney production team. The invitation is just the beginning; these events boggle the mind.

The Disney Meetings and Events team can plan a week-long, weekend, or single event. Anything you can dream can be orchestrated and everything is fashioned to the highest expectations. Your event team produces “Couture by Disney” where the uppermost standards are applied by an immensely imaginative team. Costuming is an art and, if you wish to enrich your function utilizing inventive apparel, the Disney Meetings and Events team will design glorious costumes to match your theme. Want to be Alice Through The Looking Glass, Anna or Elsa from Frozen, or perhaps a Marvel character? The Disney Meetings and Events team can make you believe you are Captain America or turn you into Wonder Woman. Perhaps you wish to recreate a scene from an episode of Saturday Night Live. Capable Disney experts can bring that chapter to life. Cinderella’s Fairy Godmother can and will arrive and make all your dreams come true!

Walt Disney World, located in Orlando, Florida, was the destination of choice for my family reunion event. This amazing amalgamation of parks was enjoying a milestone anniversary and celebrations were in gear. Welcoming children and adults of all ages, the atmosphere throughout was gloriously contagious and this was the perfect place to host my family. Bringing joy, smiles and laughter to a multitude of guests, my group was enchanted from the moment we arrived at the Riviera Resort and checked into our extraordinary rooms. The Riviera offers tower studio rooms and fabulous deluxe one-, two- or three-bedroom villas. This is the perfect resort for families. The tower studios include a microwave, small refrigerator and a uniquely hidden pull-down queen sofa bed. The villas are incredible, replete with kitchens, stainless steel appliances, washer and dryer, and a bubble-jet bathtub. The crème de la crème is the three-bedroom Grand Villa, which sleeps up to 12.

My family reunion was eventful, magical and almost beyond belief. The crème de la crème highlight was our last night’s celebration. It was an evening to remember with a soiree fit for a king and queen. After a charming and blissful day in the park, my group was escorted into a private group facility where a gifted staff eagerly welcomed and ushered us in. My group was comprised of grandparents, parents, aunts, uncles, cousins, children and grandchildren, and an infant who had just turned one. Our evening kicked off with a pianist who greeted us with an array of well-known and delightful Disney tunes. I’ve never seen my grandchildren’s eyes opened so wide! A fully stocked bar delighted the adults who ordered a drink, relaxed, enjoyed sensational appetizers while they watched the young ones dance. A grandiose four-course dinner was chosen in advance and served on fine china with silver table service and accompanied by an array of superb wines. The accommodating staff and magical atmosphere made this an evening to remember.

We finished dining and enjoyed several delightful Disney desserts while the children filled their pockets and their bellies with a cornucopia of candy but the best was yet to come. We walked down another hall to private room and a knock on the door was all it took. The children ran into the arms of the one and only Mickey Mouse. Disney had a photographer on hand to record the magic and turn them into memories we will always cherish. We spent 20 minutes taking photos with Mickey and then were escorted to sublime seats near the water to watch the nighttime pyrotechnical extravaganza. The laser and light show was filled with a medley of classic Disney music and an innovative combination of floating giant screens, choreographed moving fountains, lights and lasers. The scenes were inspired by your favorite Disney movies. What a magical way to complete a marvelous Disney day.

When planning your visit, Travelgirl recommends you divide your time between the Magic Kingdom, EPCOT, Hollywood Studios, Star War’s Rise of the Resistance (located in Hollywood Studios), and Animal Kingdom Park, which is also home to Pandora – The World of Avatar. You must make time to enjoy Disney’s newest ride, Guardians of the Galaxy: Cosmic Rewind, which is located in EPCOT. This reverse-launch roller coaster projects you into the movie of the same name. You will rock to the music and roll along while experiencing an intergalactic chase through space and time. Travelgirl recommends you schedule a minimum of four days, more if possible, to fully enjoy the enriching activities and inspirational rides each park has to offer. Each day promises to be quite spectacular. Travelgirl Tip: Use the Park Hopper option to purchase tickets; a multi-day ticket is economical and flexible allowing the ticket holder to visit several parks on the same day.

The atmosphere at Disney is divine. If you love to travel and are dreaming of Paris, London, Morocco and Rome but can’t swing it right now, you should head to EPCOT’s World Showcase — no luggage, Euro or passport required. Transport yourself into 11 different countries all in one day. You will find a wealth of authentic items, attractions and restaurants that represent each country’s culture and cuisine. Travelgirl Tip: The Givenchy Shop inside Paris is a must-see, offering the complete collection of coveted Givenchy fragrances and cosmetics. Walk in a tourist and walk out a princess under the careful tutelage of Givenchy cosmeticians. The luxurious products are oh la la!!!

Disney’s cuisine offers a kaleidoscope of imaginative and scrumptious eateries. You can fast food it with hot dogs, burgers, popcorn, candy and ice cream at various stands throughout the parks or dine in style in an array of supercalifragilisticexpialidocious restaurants. You can choose from indigenous cuisine throughout EPCOT or make a reservation for a coveted table at Space 220, the first of its kind eatery. This concept restaurant blasts the diner 220 miles into the atmosphere via a space elevator. Diners arrive at the Centauri Space Station where you enjoy a delectable lunch or dinner Disney style.

You will also love Disney’s California Grille located on the 15th floor of the Contemporary Resort and the Steakhouse 71 located on the first floor. Cinderella’s Royal Table, Cítricos and Topolino’s Terrace headline a host of divine places to dine. Travelgirl tip: Reservations are a must and are available months and months ahead of your visit.

The uber-talented Disney Meetings and Events team did a truly magnificent job. Everything I had envisioned surpassed expectations. Disney created the event of a lifetime, one my family will never forget. Take note: Disney can do this for you, for your businesses, your families and for meetings and incentives. Event enchantment can turn every travelgirl into a fairytale princess. With the wave of their magical hands, the impossible becomes possible and you realize, with sometimes dreams really do come true. For more 411 and to plan your special week or weekend, Contact Disney Events at 321-939-7129 or visit https://www.disneymeetingsandevents.com/social-events/

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